ISRAELI VIOLATION: HISTORY & THEORY
In 1947, the United Nations passed a partition plan for Palestine that divided the area between the Zionists from Europe and the native Palestinian Arabs. This plan was passed against the strong protests of the native Palestinians and their supporters, the surrounding Arab nations, because the plan gave 55% of the land to aproximately 16% of the population, who owned only about 6% of the land, and gave only 45% (less than 1/2) to the native population that had been there thousands of years.
The Arabs were outraged, and all-out war broke out. As happens in all such war situations, part of the native civilian population voluntarily left the region for their own safety, others who left were responding to orders to leave from their leaders, and it is well documented that a large number of civilians were driven out by the Zionist forces. But whatever their reason was for leaving, all (totalling aproximately 750,000) expected to be able to return to their ancestral homes after the fighting had ended, to resume their lives, raise their children, and continue as their families had been doing in that area for generation after generation for over 1000 years, irregardless of which force was in power.
But what they found was that the new country of Israel would not let them return to their homes, villages and neighborhoods. The reason they claimed publicly was that they considered the Palestinian Arab people their enemy, and thus they could not let many hundreds of thousands to return to dwell within the borders of the new nation to which they were opposed. This might be a reason worth considering except that a deeper analysis of Zionist strategic writings indicated a more significant reason for not letting the Palestinian refugees return to their homes.
Many studies have shown that the Zionists who started the State of Israel, had planned from the beginning to make their nation a democratic nation which they themselves controlled even though they were in the minority in the region. Thus, since the late 1800's, the Zionists had been discussing different ways to somehow move the Palestinian Arabs out of the area so that they would then have a demographic majority. They called this 'transfer'. They discussed many ideas - whether it should be compulsory or voluntary, or mixed, whether there should be compensation or negative motivators, or mixed, and whether it was moral or not, how public it should be done, etc. But in the end, it was the Arab rebellion against the partition plan that provided the opportunity to the Zionists to drive the Arabs out of the area, under the disguise of self-defense, so that they could have their demographic majority, and thus describe their 'democratic government'.
Since the late 1800's, the Zionists have found many ways to drive the Palestinian Arabs out of the area. Because this is done to a native population based on their ethnicity, this is considered to be a form of "Ethnic Cleansing" - a crime against humanity, which is outlawed by international law. Please see the section on Ethnic Cleansing for a more in-depth discussion of all the many different ways that the Zionists have practiced this crime against the Palestinian people, but in this particular section we discuss the particular case that occurred in 1948, when the Palestinian people were not allowed to return to their homes, and then again in 1967, after the Israeli military took over the West Bank and Gaza Strip, because these actions violated a specific principle of international humanitarian law, found in the Geneva Conventions IV of 1949, and again in the Geneva Conventions Protocols I of 1977, where it specifically states that non-combatants must be allowed to return to their homes following the end of fighting, and that not allowing this is a war crime - a serious breach of international law.
In international politics, the issue of Palestinian rights to return to their homes following the end of fighting is known as "Right of Return". Some also refer to it as "Right to Return".
It is important to note that the Zionist government of Israel has written into law (Law of Return (1950)) that the Jewish people have the right to return to the area after having been away for 2000 years. Thus the Palestinian people have a parallel claim to have a right to return after just 60 or so years - not even a generation.
In addition, it is important to note that the Israeli government then passed a law, called the Absentees' Property Law (1950), that re-distributed to new Jewish immigrants the property of the Palestinian refugees after their right to return to their homes was denied.
There has been some compensation paid to Palestinians for the property they lost due to these laws, but it has been minimal.
And it is clear, that a nation is not a true democracy, and clearly not a moral democracy, if the true majority, who happens to be the native people, are chased out of the area, and kept out by military force, so that a minority can then rule over the area, and declare itself the majority, and then the property of the true majority is then re-distributed to the minority for their use.
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RELEVANT QUOTES FROM TEXT
- Geneva Conventions IV (1949), articles 45, 46 & 49:
| Article 45. Protected persons shall not be transferred to a Power which is not a party to the Convention.
This provision shall in no way constitute an obstacle to the repatriation of protected persons, or to their return to their country of residence after the cessation of hostilities.
Article 46. In so far as they have not been previously withdrawn, restrictive measures taken regarding protected persons shall be cancelled as soon as possible after the close of hostilities.
Restrictive measures affecting their property shall be cancelled, in accordance with the law of the Detaining Power, as soon as possible after the close of hostilities.
Article 49. Individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying Power or to that of any other country, occupied or not, are prohibited, regardless of their motive.
Nevertheless, the Occupying Power may undertake total or partial evacuation of a given area if the security of the population or imperative military reasons so demand. Such evacuations may not involve the displacement of protected persons outside the bounds of the occupied territory except when for material reasons it is impossible to avoid such displacement. Persons thus evacuated shall be transferred back to their homes as soon as hostilities in the area in question have ceased.
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- Geneva Conventions Protocols I (1977), article 85(4d):
Article 85. Repression of breaches of this Protocol
- 4. In addition to the grave breaches defined in the preceding paragraphs and in the Conventions, the following shall be regarded as grave breaches of this Protocol, when committed wilfully and in violation of the Conventions or the Protocol:
- (b) unjustifiable delay in the repatriation of prisoners of war or civilians;
- 5. Without prejudice to the application of the Conventions and of this Protocol, grave breaches of these instruments shall be regarded as war crimes.
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- UN General Assembly resolution 194(III) (1948), article 11:
RESOLUTION 194(III). PALESTINE - PROGRESS REPORT OF THE UNITED NATIONS MEDIATOR |
| 11. Resolves that the refugees wishing to returnto their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under the principles of international law or in equity, should be made good by the Governments or authoriees responsible;
Instructs the Conciliation Commission to facilitate the repatriation, resettlement and economic and social rehabilitation of the refugees and the payment of compensation, and to maintain close relations with the Director of the United Nations Relief for Palestinian Refugees and, through him, with the appropriate organs and agencies of the United Nations; Hundred and eighty-sixth plenary meeting,
11 December 1948 |
- UN Security Council resolution 237 (1967), article 1:
S/RES/237 RESOLUTION 237 (14 June 1967) |
| 1. Calls upon the Government of Israel to ensure the safety, welfare and security of the inhabitants of the areas where military operations have taken place and to facilitate the return of those inhabitants who have fled the areas since the outbreak of hostilities;
2. Recommends to the Governments concerned the scrupulous respect of the humanitarian principles governing the treatment of prisoners of war and the protection of civilian persons in time of war contained in the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949;
Adopted unanimously at the 1361st meeting. |
- Absentees' Property Law (1950):
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ABSENTEES’ PROPERTY LAW (1950) |
| Interpretation. |
- 1. In this Law -
- (b) "absentee" means -
- (1) a person who, at any time during the period between the 16th Kislev, 5708 (29th November, 1947) and the day on which a declaration is published, under section 9(d) of the Law and Administration Ordinance, 5708-1948(1), that the state of emergency declared by the Provisional Council of State on the 10th Iyar, 5708 (19th May, 1948)(2) has ceased to exist, was a legal owner of any property situated in the area of Israel or enjoyed or held it, whether by himself or through another, and who, at any time during the said period -
- (i) was a national or citizen of the Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, SaudiArabia, Trans-Jordan, Iraq or the Yemen, or
- (ii) was in one of these countries or in any part of Palestine outside the area of Israel, or
- (iii) was a Palestinian citizen and left his ordinary place of residence in Palestine
- (a) for a place outside Palestine before the 27th Av, 5708 (1st September, 1948); or
- (b) for a place in Palestine held at the time by forces which sought to prevent the establishment of the State of Israel or which fought against it after its establishment;
- (2) a body of persons which, at any time during the period specified in paragraph (1), was a legal owner of any property situated in the area of Israel or enjoyed or held such property, whether by itself or through another, and all the members, partners, shareholders, directors or managers of which are absentees within the meaning of paragraph (1), or the management of the business of which is otherwise decisively controlled by such absentees, or all the capital of which is in the hands of such absentees;
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| Vesting of absentees' property in Custodian. |
- 4.
- (a) Subject to the provisions of this Law -
- (1) all absentees' property is hereby vested in the Custodian as from the day of publication of his appointment or the day on which it became absentees' property, whichever is the later date;
- (2), every right an absentee had in any property shall pass automatically to the Custodian at the time of the vesting of the property; and the status of the Custodian shall be the same as was that of the owner of the property.
- (b) The proceeds of vested property shall be dealt with like the vested property yielding the proceeds.
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| Absentees' businesses. |
- 8.
- (a) The Custodian may carry on the management of a business on behalf of an absentee, whether or not he indicates that the business is managed by the Custodian, but he shall always have the right to sell or lease the whole or a part of the business, and -
- (1) if it is the business of an individual - to liquidate it;
- (2) if it is the business of a partnership all the partners of which are shareholders of which are absentees, or of a cooperative society all the members of which are absentees - to wind up the partnership, company or cooperative society by order published in Reshumot.
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| Validity of transactions. |
- 17. Any transaction made in good faith between the Custodian and another person in respect of property which the Custodian considered at the time of the transaction to be vested property shall not be invalidated and shall remain in force even if it is proved that the property was not at the time vested property.
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| Limitation of powers of Custodian. |
- 19.
- (a) Where the vested property is of the category of immovable property, the Custodian shall not -
- (1) sell or otherwise transfer the right of ownership thereof; provided that if a Development Authority is established under a Law of the Knesset, it shall be lawful for the Custodian to sell the property to that Development Authority at a price not less than the official value of the property;
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- Prevention of Infiltration (Offenses and Jurisdiction) Law (1954):
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PREVENTION OF INFILTRATION (OFFENSES AND JURISDICTION) LAW (1954) |
| Definitions. |
- 1. In this Law --
- "infiltrator" means a person who has entered Israel knowingly and unlawfully and who at any time between the 16th Kislev, 3708 (29th November, 1947) and his entry was -
- (1) a national or citizen of the Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Saudi-Arabia, Trans-Jordan, Iraq or the Yemen ; or
- (2) a resident or visitor in one of those countries or in any part of Palestine outside Israel ; or
- (3) a Palestinian citizen or a Palestinian resident without nationality or citizenship or whose nationality or citizenship was doubtful and who, during the said period, left his ordinary place of residence in an area which has become a part of Israel for a place outside Israel.
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| Penalty for infiltrator. |
- 2. An infiltrator is liable to imprisonment for a term of five years or to a fine of five thousand pounds or to both such penalties.
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| Penalty for sheltering or otherwise aiding an infiltrator. |
- 6. A person who shelters an infiltrator or otherwise aids an infiltrator in order to facilitate his infiltration or his unlawful presence in Israel is liable to imprisonment for a term of five years or to a fine of five thousand pounds or to both such penalties.
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REFERENCES
- Cassese, Antonio. “International Law”. Oxford University Press, NY (2001).
- "Laws of the State of Israel: Authorized Translation from the Hebrew". Government Printer, Jerusalem, Israel (1948-1987).
- Lehn, Walter & Davis, Uri. “The Jewish National Fund”. Kegan Paul International Ltd. Publishers, London, UK (1988).
- Masalha, Nur. "Expulsion of the Palestinians: The Concept of 'Transfer' in Zionist Political Thought, 1882-1948". Institute for Palestine Studies, Washington DC (1992).
- Morris, Benny. "Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict, 1881-2001", .2nd Edition. Vintage Books, NY (2001).
- Simons, Chaim. "International Proposals to Transfer Arabs from Palestine: 1895-1947, A Historic Survey". Ktav Publishing House, Hoboken, NJ (1988).
- United Nations website. http://www.un.org (1947-2006).
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